Once Upon a Time
by OhWillothewisp
Summary: Juliet loves Nick with all her heart, but she can't deny her feelings for Renard. Her fairy tale may not go quite like she imagined, but she might just get her happily ever after, after all. Nick/Juliette/Renard


A/N: Written for Trobadora for the 2015 Rare Pair Exchange. Trabadora, I loved all of the prompts I received, it was difficult to decide what to write for. This story was inspired by what you said about Juliet and Renard's lingering attraction after the spell was broken, and their inability to act on it because they both care about Nick. I feel like if Juliet and Renard had dealt with their feelings for each other, instead of trying to ignore it, then things could have turned out better for everyone. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! :) Originally posted to AO3.

"When the prince saw Gold-Tree alive he made great rejoicings, and he began to kiss her, and kiss her, and kiss her. Said the second wife, 'Since she is the first one you had it is better for you to stick to her, and I will go away.'…'Oh! indeed you shall not go away, but I shall have both of you.'…. The prince and his two wives were long alive after this, pleased and peaceful." ~ _Gold-Tree and Silver-Tree_ , Brothers Grimm

When Juliette was a little girl she would be told fairytales of beautiful princesses and brave princes who came to their rescue. With a single kiss they would know they were meant to be together for the rest of their lives and they would live happily ever after. They were such beautiful stories; she had wanted to believe in them. It was true, that fairy godmothers didn't exist. And true love's kiss couldn't fix all your problems. But those were such beautiful lies. That's what childhood is for, embracing beautiful impossibilities before the cruelty of reality makes all those dreams fade away.

Those fairy tales gave the idea that a prince would come sweeping in and defeat the monster and it would be true love and happily ever after. But what if that wasn't enough? She had found her prince in shining armor and she loved him with all her heart. She wanted that to be enough, she wanted to have her prince and her happily ever after. She couldn't quite find her happily ever after when the reality was, she wanted the prince and the monster.

It all started with a kiss, from a prince. That part of the story was right. But it wasn't her prince. It wasn't the one who supposed to awaken her from her sleep. The kiss awakened something else in her as well. The way she had felt towards Sean had been overwhelming. It had been intense and brutal and all consuming. It was everything love should be, and everything it shouldn't be. It wasn't supposed to be that way. She had Nick; she hadn't asked to love another. She hadn't asked for it, and she didn't want it. It was too much. When Rosalee had said she had a cure, something that would fix what had happened; she thought that, that would be it. So why hadn't it worked? When she was "cured" why did she still feel something when she was in the same room as Sean? She still dreamt of him of at night, and during the day her thoughts would turn to him.

She loved Nick, and that was undeniable. But the more time went on the harder it was for her to deny that she felt something for Sean too.

She dreamed of them sometimes, her prince and her beast. Long tangled dreams filled with darkness and light. She would dream that she was being taken to a high tower by the evil witch, and that it was Nick that came to save her. She would dream of his eyes and his touch, of the way he loved her. And she would dream of Sean. She would dream of his darker side, the wesen within, she would see his true face and she would love him all the more. She would dream of the kiss they shared, that woke her from her coma, that had awoken something else inside of her as well. She couldn't explain it, but she couldn't deny it either.

She'd been spending more and more time in the trailer. Her world had been opened up, and there was so much more to it than she had ever imagined. She wanted to explore every facet of this new world she had access to. It was frightening and beautiful and she wanted to understand everything she could. She skimmed down the old well-worn pages, books that had been handed down for generations, containing a knowledge that few would ever know. She turned the pages looking through the images of the creatures and reading the stories, most of which ended bloody. She could understand how much damage wessen could cause if they wanted to, but it still made her sick to think of so many innocent lives lost because the Grimms wanted to eliminate anything that was different. It made her love Nick all the more that he wasn't like that. It also made her think of Sean, of what would have been done to him just because he was a zauberbiest. She turned the page, trying to distract herself from the men in her life.

She came across a drawing of a beautiful woman on one side of the page, on the other the woged wesen. She had small horns and a soft narrow face, still beautiful in that form, the German name was, Gämse nymphe, a note translated the name to "Klipspringer Nymph." It was believed they were where the nymph mythology originated from.

 _They are exceedingly gentle, shy creatures. They prefer solitary environments, often choosing to live in woods or along mountains. Evidence suggests they are a solely female species, choosing wesen and non-wesen males with which to mate. They take great delight in the company of men. It appears monogamy goes against their nature and each female will form polyamorous relationships with several males. I found that this gentle nature makes them exceedingly easy to hunt down and_

Juliet stopped reading. She knew well enough where that was going and was only too glad Nick wasn't like those types of Grimms. She wanted to support Nick in the changes he was going through. He was a Grimm, and perhaps more to the point, he had chosen to be a Grimm. It was different at first, when this was something that was happening to them, out of either of their control. But he had had a chance to be normal, to give up that side of himself, and he had made the decision to entangle himself in that life again. She had struggled with it at first, knowing that it meant they would never again have a normal life. But now she was starting to understand why he would want that back. Looking through these books, knowing what she knew, she wasn't sure would give it up if she could. If she had the choice to rewind the clock and make it so neither her nor Nick ever heard of wesen or Grimms, she wouldn't. The world was a vast and beautiful place, and now that she had seen this side of it, she didn't think she would give it up for anything.

She looked down at the picture of the Gämse nymphe. She had thought about what giving up being a Grimm would mean for both of them. It had meant giving up a normal life, but she was no longer sure she wanted a normal life. Normal meant ordinary, and she was starting to see how much more there was to the world without the constraints of what she thought she wanted.

She went to the precinct that day. She was going to meet up with Nick and they were going out for lunch. When she saw him that day, smiling and talking to Hank, it reminded her why she loved him. He was a good man and a good cop. From the beginning she had known that he was her prince that all those fairy tales had promised. No matter what came between them that would never changed. No matter what else she may be feeling she did know that, she loved Nick no matter. She would never do anything to hurt him, no matter what she might be feeling for Sean. Even now she couldn't wait to see him, she missed him when they weren't together, and his touch still made her heart beat faster. He was her prince, of that she was sure, even if her thoughts were still haunted by someone else.

As if summoned by magic the very man who had her so distracted appeared, Sean turned a corner just as she was moving forward and she ran into him. He reached out to steady her, and for a brief moment his hands lingered. She remembered the feel of him, of being in his arms, of the passion that had overtaken them both. She had fought it then, as she fought it now, but for just a moment she felt him close to her and she wanted to tilt her head back and capture his lips in a kiss once more. Then he let her go and stepped back, putting distance between them, and she was left bereft of the warmth of his touch.

There was a long awkward silence that she finally broke, saying, "I'm here to see Nick."

There was another awkward pause, before Sean turned to leave without a word. Sean wasn't exactly the most expressive person, but she could tell how uncomfortable he still was in her presence. Even when they were alone Nick was there with them, this invisible presence reminding them both of what they wanted and what they could never have. Nick meant too much to both of them to ever do anything that would hurt him. But that didn't mean Sean and her couldn't be friends. Before the spell ruined everything she had grown to respect and care for the man in his own right.

"This doesn't have to be awkward," Juliet said.

"I think it does."

"I care about Nick, I know you do too. What happened before was because of a curse, but that's over now. It doesn't have to be this way, we can just go back to the way things were before."

There was a silence, and she could feel Sean studying her, then, "Is that what you want?"

She thought about that, and the implications of the question. Did she want to pretend the spell had never happened? The memory of his touch, the feeling of lips against hers, the passion that burned like fire, it still haunted her dreams. But before she could answer, Nick was there by her side. He kissed her hello, then took in her expression and looked between her and his captain, "Is everything okay?"

She pushed down the guilt his presence brought, and smiled despite it, "Everything's perfect, are you ready to go?"

She tried to focus on being with Nick; she wanted that to be enough. But her brief interaction with Sean had her head spinning and she kept thinking about the way he looked at her. There was something there, it wasn't just her who was still having these lingering feelings, she was sure of it now. After lunch with Nick she went to the only person who could possibly help her.

She entered the spice shop and was relieved to find Rosalee there alone. It wasn't that she didn't trust Monroe to keep her secret, but it was hard enough for her to talk about what was going on. She thought it might be a little easier if it was just the two of them.

"Juliet? What's wrong?" Rosalee said, concern evident in her voice. And of course Rosalee would be able to tell there was something going on straight away. Juliet told Rosalee everything, about her feelings for Sean, how she couldn't stop thinking about him, and her suspicion that Sean might be going through the same thing she was.

"There has to be something you can do." She fought back tears as she talked to Rosalee. "The cure didn't work; I can't stop thinking about Sean. I'm sorry, I know Nick is you're friend to, and I hate coming to you like this. But I don't know what else to do. I love Nick, but I can't stop thinking about Sean. I just don't know what to do anymore. There has to be something you can give me to fix this!"

"What you're feeling may not have anything to do with the spell." There was sadness and sympathy in Rosalee's tone. "What I gave you took should have undone the obsession. And you haven't been like you were before. You and Sean aren't the same when you're together anymore, you aren't incapable of being apart, like you were before."

"Then what's wrong with me? Why can't I stop thinking about him, he haunts my dreams at night, and my thoughts by day. I can't get him out of my head."

"What Adalind gave you may have drawn out something that was already there. Is it possible that what you feel for Sean didn't start with the spell? Maybe the spell only worked to bring to light feelings that you had buried. Have you talked to Nick about any of this?"

Juliette shook her head, denying both the questions and the words. "No, I can't. Not after everything we've been through. There's no way he would understand. I forgot him, and now we are finally starting to rebuild what we had. I can't just say, 'hey, you know you're police chief? I think I'm in love with him.' I can't hurt him like that. Not again, not after everything that has already happened."

"I think Nick might be more understanding than you might think. You're world's been upended, but so has his. He isn't like any Grimm I've heard of before. I know that he loves you, and I know he cares for Sean. You should talk to him about what you're feeling, I think he might surprise you."

Juliette tried to hold back the tears, she didn't want to break down anymore in front of her friend than she already had, "I just can't."

Rosalee put a consoling hand on hers, "I know this isn't easy, but it's going to be okay. I know it's sound cliché, but true love always finds a way. You can't help who you love, and you shouldn't have to hide it. A lot of people would have a problem with me and Monroe being together. Just because what you feel doesn't fit into everyone's definition of 'normal' doesn't mean it's bad."

Juliet considered this, on some level she knew Rosalee was right. She loved Nick and she loved Sean, and maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. She just wondered how she could make Nick see it that way.

It was a few days after he talk with Rosalee, and she still couldn't stop thinking about Sean, but she still hadn't found the courage to talk to Nick about what she was feeling. Her keys jingled as she dropped them by the door. "Nick, are you home?" It had been a few days since her talk with Rosalee.

"Nick?" She called again, the house was so quiet. She made her way into the dining room, and she saw the table laid out, complete with candles and roses. Her gut gave a twist of guilt at the beautiful layout. Nick had planned something special and she couldn't stop thinking about someone else.

His smile was beautiful when he came to greet her, pulling her in for a kiss. She was breathless when he pulled away. "I spoke with Rosalee." His voice was soft, but his words made her heart hurt.

"Nick I'm sorry."

"You should be, you should have talked to me sooner. I hate that you've been in pain for so long."

"Nick I love you, I do."

"I know, and I love you too. That will never change. Juliette, I'm not upset. I want you to be happy, that's all I've ever wanted."

It was only then that she realized they weren't alone. Her heart beat faster as she saw Sean come into the light. She looked between them, trying to see if Nick was upset, but he looked nothing but pleased.

"Juliette, I've missed you." With that he pulled her close, just as Nick had done, his lips brushing against hers, gentle at first, then more insistent.

Maybe this wasn't the way she had pictured her life going when she was a little girl, but it looked like her fairytale would have a happy ending after all.


End file.
